American Squares Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec. 1959)
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■Elv 1N mir 1 Pr 11111111 ■••■•■1■MP MEP =NW VINW 1" AIL .■110■• Iwo ■ •■• • ■•■■ AI! .■-•■■-• _A. new series of CONTRA DANCES by 14"401.12C.0.4%.PliT If you are "contra-wise- you'll go overboard for this new series. All records are arranged with the called version on one side and the instrumental on the flip. Frank Kaltman calling - Folkraft Orchestra instrumentals F-1243 Portland Fancy F-1244 Fireman's Dance F-1246 Lady Walpole's Reel Bob Brundage calling - Folkraft Orchestra instrumentals F-1257 Haymaker's Jig F-1259 Fairfield Fancy Get on the bandwagon n ow COPETRA\ [MICAS are the big thing today AMERICAN ,S1 “Ares THE MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN FOLK DANCING DECEMBER, 1959 News Correspondents Volume 15 Number 4 YOU THIS MONTH Contributing Editors Fred Bailey W. Joseph Bray Special Articles Dud Briggs Lib Hubbard A Teutonic Quadrille 5 Olga Kulbitsky By Hugh Thurston Bob Merkley Ray Olson Round 'N' Round S Pat Pending By Mary and Bill Lynn E. H. Regnier A Brief History of "Hash" 9 By Rickey Holden and Associate Editor Lloyd Litman H. A. Thurston Seasonal Dances 14 European Editor Modern Concept of a Clifford McGuire Square Dance Caller 20 By Bart Haigh Roving Editor Rickey Holden Regular Features Round Dance Editors Mary and Bill Lynn Editorial 4 Record Review Editor Here and There 12 Frank L. Kaltman Grab Bag 13 Editor Record Reviews 18 Arvid Olson Mail ....................... ........ _ 22 Thought for the Day 24 Publisher Heritage-American Co. Coming Events 26 AMERICAN SQUARES is published monthly by of month preceeding date of issue. Subscription: Heritage-American Co., 2514 - 16th Street, Moline, $2.50 per year; single copies: 25c each. Cover and Illinois. Application for 2nd Class re-entry privi- entire contents Copyright 1959 by Arvid Olson. loges entered at Moline, Illinois. Forms close 10th All rights re d. CRACKER BARREL SESSION PROBABLY everyone reading this column will agree that local and regional square dance publications are an important part of the square dance movement. These publications help to promote square dancing, unite square dancers, pro- vide advertising media for commercial square dance firms, serve as a vehicle for conveying new dance material to the general square dance public, and generally add to the worth of the movement. Why, then, do many of these publications fail? During the past two or three years alone over a score of square dance publications have entered or left the square dance field. A partial answer might be the lack of training and back- ground of people attempting to enter the magazine business. There is much more to publishing a regular square dance magazine than most people imagine. One casual observer commented about one publication that existed only a short time, "The editor put all he knew in the first issue and it took him six months to run out of paper." However, this is not the primary reason. The apathy of square dancers toward such publications is the reason often given. People seem to have a "Let George send in news and articles and I'll read them" attitude. If the reasons for this attitude could be found local publications would prosper, dancers would be better informed, and the square dance movement in general would benefit. Many dancers, especially the newer ones, are not aware of local publica- tions. Of course, the remedy here is advertising. Others are simply not interested in what is happening in other areas. This is a very narrow, short-sighted, and dangerous view. Most dancers do not enjoy reading many of the publications because they are filled with dry, repititious, ordinary doings of various groups. Evidently some dancers do not wish to be informed. They only want to dance and expect their caller to know what is going on within the movement. Local, state, and regional publications are an important part of the contem- porary square dance movement. They will survive only if every dancer and caller active in square dancing does his or her part to promote and support them. 4 AMERICAN SQUARES XV-88 A TEUTONIC QUADRILLE By Hugh Thurston, Vancouver, B. C. One sunny afternoon in the summer fond of saying that Edinburgh is half of 1950, in the small town of Hanau- English, or Glasgow half Irish. This am-Main, in Germany, a rather mixed time I made a note of how the dance collection of young people could have went. The formation is a cross be- been seen enjoying themselves danc- tween that of "Portland Fancy" and ing. Half of them were the local that of the Vermont "Tempest." Musikkreis, who included dancing Imagine the two-couple-facing-two- among their musical activities; the couple sets of "Portland Fancy" ar- others were us — a visiting group of ranged not in a circle but in a straight Scottish dancers from Cambridge Uni- column, and you have it. versity. It was our first experience of foreign dancing, and it seemed to us The figures were: that the Germans were doing rather a Meas different kind of dancing from ours; 1-16 Circle eight and back. they did mainly couple-dancing and 17-24 Two opposite couples (actually quadrilles, which reminded us very the two furthest from the stage on strongly of what we would call "old- which the musicians sat; the dancers time" dancing. Their waltz-masurka, were all side-ways to it) go "down for instance, was like our Veleta or St. the middle and up" (i. e. towards Bernard's waltz — and, to be frank, the stage and back) each man tak- did not interest us much. Except for ing the woman opposite. They lead one of their quadrilles, that is. with nearer hands. The Swedes out- did the Germans in compliments: This had a most attractive tune they bowed not only at the begin- which we were soon all humming or ning and end of this figure, but in whistling. Its name, as far as we could the middle too. make out across the language-barrier, 25-32 The other two couples do as was "Sunday-Morn Quadrille" and the much (going away from the stage name seemed to suit it. For the style and back). of dancing, especially the courteous 33-40 Each couple dances a grand- bow with which each dancer greeted right - and - left - for - four with the his partner when he took her down couple opposite. the middle, the dignified walking-step 41-48 and a circle left. with which they moved, and the 49-64 Each couple polkas round the) second courteous bow on returning to opposite couple, ending in each place, all seemed clearly "Sunday other's place. manners." Everybody, as in "Portland Fancy" Two years later we met the dance now dances the same again with the again, this time in Skane, in the people they are now facing (of course, south of Sweden. We got the right those who have reached the ends of name this time: "Sonderborg Quad- the column will have to wait out one rille." The Swedes told us that it was round). a Danish dance, one of the very few foreign dances which they did. This The dance has been described in was not surprising, because Skane has the South Jutland book in the series belonged to Denmark at various put out by the F.F.F. (one of the two times and Swedes from up north are national folk-dance societies in Den- fond of telling Scanians that they are mark). I checked my notes against the half Danish; just as highlanders are hook, and found that the dance in the XV-89 AMERICAN SQUARES 5 books was the same, but the forma- The formation consists of a line of tion was different. Imagine a four- four couples facing a line of four, couple set, as in "Portland Fancy," making a rather long and thin set. As and behind one line of four a number at Hanau, each set is independent of of other lines of four facing the same the others. In the opening figure there way, like reserves waiting to come are two circles of eight instead of one. into battle. Behind the opposing line In the second figure, of course, four of four is an equal number of "re- couples at a time go up or down the serves." At the beginning, only the middle. This group did not bow, but center two lines (the ones we imagin- the moving couples clapped on the ed first) dance. After the first progres- first beat of the first measure of the sion has taken place, these now each figure, and while one lot of couples dance with the first reserves, so the were moving the others were clapping four center lines are dancing. Next (twice in each measure). The circles time the six center lines are dancing, of four come before the grand-rights- and so on. Thus, the movement and-lefts in this version, and during spreads out from the center. But, I these rights-and-lefts the dancers sing: have never seen anyone dance in this Die rechte Hand, die linke Hand, way. Die reich' ich Dir zum Unterpfand. My memories of the Hanau version Die rechte Hand, die linke Hand, are that except for the two following Die reich' ich Dir zum Unterpfand differences it was the same. The first mein difference was that in Hanau there Leben lang. was no progression; each couple end- To end, instead of each couple polka- ed in its original place. Thus, each set ing round the opposite couple, each of four couples was quite separate couple polkas all round the set and from the rest of the dancers.